India was the
motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages: she was
the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our
mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in
Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and
democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all – Will Durant,
American Historian
‘Freedom from
fear is the freedom, I claim for you my
motherland!’ was the
earnest zeal of
Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur. This yearning for Bharat being a ‘Motherland’
is not a
modern phenomenon but flowing down from the spirit of Vedas and Ramayan.
Many foreign
scholars like Will Durant also considered
it as the
cradle of civilisation.
This is possible not just because it is one of the
oldest living civilisations, but because it has provided with the life based on the
principle of ‘spiritual
democracy’ where everyone is
allowed to find
his or her
own path to reach to the Supreme Divine. It is hailed
as a motherland not just
because it has
allowed diversity of faiths
to originate and
flourish but also
connecting the geographical and
cultural diversities in an integral
whole. This is
the land where
all aggressions ended in
assimilation. But most
importantly, the ethos of
this nation can
be considered as the
Motherland because of
the children who
tried to serve this society and
people with the spirit of being a
family based on
human interests rather
than parochial ones. And feather
in the cap
in this tradition
of devout children
is Dr Babasaheb
Bhimrao Ambedkar.
It is
unfortunate that the
people who thrive
on a foreign, divisive
and violent ideology,
conveniently trying to appropriate the legacy of Dr Ambedkar, forgetting the
fact that it was Babasaheb
who revived the reformist
zeal of our
ancient civilisation in the
modern era, along
with Dr Hedgewar.
The people, who considered
him as the
most ‘outstanding bourgeois revolutionary democrat’ in his
lifetime, are trying to convert
him into another
divisive figure for political
ends. On the
other hand, a
more sinister attempt is
being made by the people
who were responsible for
the Partition of
this motherland, to forge
an alliance with
some Ambedkarite groups.
While dealing
with both these
forces we have
to remind them that
though Babasheb criticised
and denounced the rotten customs of Hinduism, when he had to
find an alternative
path, instead of
going for foreign originated
Semitic religions or
divisive ideologies, he
preferred the path
of Buddha, simply because he
was aware of
the cultural spirit
of his Motherland.
It was
not a coincidence
that along with
justice, liberty and equality, fraternity was the most cardinal belief
in Ambedkar’s constitutionalism. Unless there is this
spirit of brotherhood,
the desired results
of Constitution can not
be achieved was
his firm conviction. While devising the instrument of
reservation on the basis of caste also, his main goal was to avoid the feeling
of alienation and
separation on the
basis of caste. To
ascertain the social
and economic democracy, he
was well aware
of the prerequisite, the core
cultural principle of
this land that
is ‘Spiritual Democracy’, and
therefore, the temple entry
movement and the
reformist path of
Buddha was carried forward.
When heinous
attempts are being
made to combine Ambedkar with
Marx or to
limit his leadership to a caste group, there is a need
to develop a spirit of consensual legacy. There is a need to implement the spirit
of reservation more vigorously and genuinely, beyond short
term political considerations, so
that we can attain
the social equality
and fraternity expected by
Babasaheb as early
as possible. From Vedas to
the Modern Constitutionalism propounded by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, is our
collective legacy, it is the
heritage of this
Motherland. As children of this revered tradition, it is our duty not
only to cherish but to nurture this legacy.
@PrafullaKetkar
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